Things To Know About Writing An Offer Before Seeing A House

Posted on: 3 June 2019

There are situations in which people will write up an offer to buy a house before they even set foot inside the house. While this might seem a little crazy, it actually happens more often than you think. There are reasons people will write offers for homes they have never seen, and there are also ways these individuals protect themselves when doing this.

Why people do this

Writing an offer to buy a house before ever seeing it is risky, yet people do this primarily to avoid losing the opportunity to buy a house. Suppose you are out of town on vacation and your agent calls to tell you about a new listing that is ideal for you. If you will not be back in town for a week or two, you could lose the ability to buy this house unless you put an offer on it now. People often put in offers sight-unseen when they cannot get to a house to view it but know that it is likely a great deal for them. In many cases, sight-unseen offers occur on homes that hit the market for prices that are well under the current market value of the homes. To avoid missing out on the deal, a person would submit a written offer right away without viewing the home.

Ways people protect themselves when doing this

If you ever decide to do this, it is very important to fully protect yourself in the deal. If you put an offer on a house you did not see and then find out that the house is not at all what you expected, you would want a legal way out of the deal, and the best way to have a legal way out is by adding contingencies to the offer. When you add contingencies, the house will have to meet certain conditions and standards in order for you to be legally required to go through with the deal. If you add the right contingencies and then discover issues with the house, you could void the contract and look for a different one to buy.

If you find a great deal on a house and do not want to miss the opportunity to buy it, you could always write an offer to buy the house before you see it. To learn more about this or to find homes for sale, talk to a local agent.

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